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The Gold Coast doctor charged with recklessly lending a SIM card
to terrorists has had his 457 visa revoked and will be detained in
an immigration detention centre.

Mohamed Haneef was released on $10,000 bail this morning
but Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said the doctor
had been taken into detention in Brisbane and would be transferred
to the Villawood detention centre.

Haneef is still innocent in the eyes of the law but Mr Andrews
said he was satisfied the Indian-born doctor had failed the
"character test".

"These are two separate matters," he said. "The courts have
their duties and obligations. I have to look at whether Dr Haneef
passes the character test."

He said that, after conversations with the Australian Federal
Police, he was satisfied Haneef had an association with
persons involved with criminal conduct.

In an often heated exchange, Mr Andrews fielded questions
from reporters.

"Doesn't this go against the legal rule that we've established
over a thousand years? That someone is innocent until proven
guilty. You're pre-empting a judgment on his innocence," asked one
reporter.

Mr Andrews: This is unrelated to ...

Reporter: How is this unrelated, minister ...

Mr Andrews: Do you want to hear the answer?

Reporter: Yes.

Mr Andrews: This is unrelated to the question of proceedings in
the criminal court in Brisbane. This is a direct responsibility set
out in the Migration Act, this is not the first person, indeed,
whose visa has been cancelled.

Mr Andrews responded with the same answer to numerous questions,
all probing the legality of his actions, given that Haneef is
facing a criminal charge.

Catch-22

"What chances does this fellow have of gaining justice in this
country when he faces criminal charges in one court, and in another
place, in a sort of a Catch-22, a minister of the Crown declares
that he's a terrorist?" asked one reporter.

"What sort of chances does he have after these comments by you?"
asked another.

Mr Andrews said he was not commenting on the legal charge, nor
attempting to interfere in it, he was simply exercising his duties
under the Migration Act.

"The magistrate in Brisbane has a set of responsibilities which
she has carried out and I'm making no comment whatsoever on the
magistrate or any decision made by the magistrate in
Queensland.

"I have parallel to that a set of responsibility and that's what
I've acted on."

Mr Andrews said Dr Haneef had legal recourse and had seven days
to appeal to the Federal Court against the decision.

He will remain in immigration detention until his trial in
Brisbane is over. If found innocent, he will be deported.

Solicitor's surprise

Haneef's solicitor, Peter Russo, was walking into the entrance
of the Brisbane watchhouse to talk to his client about what he
thought would be Haneef's imminent release on bail when Mr Andrews
called his news conference in Canberra.

Details of the minister's announcement came as a surprise.

"That is what they have been doing since day one," he said.
"They don't tell you anything, and they just think that's the way
they want to run the justice system in this country."

He said: "It is very frustrating, but if that's the way they
want to play it, bring it on.

"Arrangements had been made for his accommodation and
possible return to work."

"I have tried to stay out of the political side this," he said.
"But if that is what he thinks then he doesn't understand the
presumption of innocence. The evidence hasn't yet come before a
court."

'He can't do that'

Stephen Estcourt, president of the Australian Bar
Association, could not believe the minister's
action.

"He can't do that," said Mr Estcourt, who spent four
years ruling on immigration detention cases on the Administrative
Appeals Tribunal.

He said the minister was "usurping the role of the court"
to take action now.

"Usually this sort of visa cancellation takes place after
charges have been laid against someone and they`ve run their course
and they've resulted in a penalty being imposed ... I have not
heard of this power being used pre-emptively in this way.

"It has got to be seen as a threat to the rule of law if a
ministerial discretion is used to effectively reverse, or to
reverse for practical purposes a decision of the court. And it's
sophistry to say that one's got nothing to do with the other."

Barrister attacks open-ended law

Haneef's barrister also launched an attack on the open-ended
nature of Australia's tough anti-terrorism laws.

"When you pass legislation that gives a police service in any
part of the world powers, it just becomes part of the toolkit,"
said Stephen Keim, SC, who was not permitted to discuss the case
under Queensland law until today.

"Then those police officers who are required to use it, without
being wicked or vindictive in any way, they simply say: 'Well this
is a power we have been given. Our job is to catch crooks and we
will use this power, we will keep on making applications.'
"

Haneef sat quietly staring ahead, barefoot and handcuffed as the
magistrate Janet Payne handed down her decision and set the
committal hearing for August 31.

Mr Keim is representing Haneef pro bono against charges of
recklessly giving his British mobile phone SIM card to a
relative who was allegedly involved in failed attacks in
Britain.

Based on conversations he had with federal police, Mr Keim said
Haneef would have been detained for another 14 days without charges
- on top of the 14 he already endured at the Brisbane watchhouse -
and might have been held for up to six weeks under the current
laws, if federal police had not charged him on Saturday.

Mockery made of safeguards

He also said that the closed process of applying for extensions,
in which Haneef's lawyers were left out of some proceedings, made a
mockery of the so-called safeguards in the laws.

Only a free, dedicated and independent legal profession and
press had managed to open up "a secret process that was
unsatisfactory", he said.

Ms Payne said she had to consider the concept of
"acceptable risk" that was part of every bail decision and the
stipulation in the criminal code that a person charged under the
terrorism laws should be granted bail only in "exceptional
circumstances".

She drew on several High Court cases to find that the
"cumulative effect" of a number of factors meant Haneef's
circumstances were exceptional enough to release him into the
community.

These included that he was not alleged to have been directly
involved with a terrorist group behind last month's failed
extremist attacks in London and Glasgow; that the mobile phone SIM
card he gave to his second cousin was not alleged to have been used
as part of an attack; that he left it with his family member when
leaving Britain; that he was a doctor studying with the Australian
College of Physicians; that he had no criminal history and a good
employment history; that his passport had been taken and that he
was likely to be placed under surveillance if released.

Bail terms

Under the terms of his bail, Haneef must report three times a
week to Southport police - on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
between 6am and 10pm.

He must notify the Commonwealth DPP of his residential address
within 24 hours and cannot apply for another passport.

He was also banned from going to international departure points,
such as airports.

Prior to the minister's announcement, it was unclear where
Haneef would live while his case proceeded. During their
investigation police allegedly trashed his Southport flat in their
search for evidence.

Mr Russo said alternative accommodation was being sought.

The Democrats senator Andrew Bartlett, whose party opposed the
anti-terrorism laws, was in the court. He said whether Haneef was
able to live a normal life after being released was "a test for
Australia".

Queensland Health has reportedly suspended Haneef from his job
since he was charged.

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